Shades of Honor
by Minauril
Summary: Honor. The one word that defines the lives of the samurai living in Rokugan. Honor is something a samurai will live or die to attain. But sometimes, the line between honor and life is blurred like a line of calligraphy on a scroll rolled closed too soon.


Shades of Honor: Flying into Fire

Honor. The one word that defines the lives of the samurai living within the boundaries of the Wall in Rokugan. Honor is something a samurai will live or die to attain. But sometimes, the line between honor and life are blurred like a line of calligraphy on a scroll rolled closed too soon.

Isawa Kita pondered honor on the journey to Arrata province, the home of her daimyo and lord, Isawa Bijirantsu. She always questioned things more than her spell casting brethren, perhaps because of her connection to the mysteries of the Void spirits. The void kami, spirits that guard the non-physical element of all life, only graced certain spell casting samurai, or shugenja, with the ability to communicate with them. Isawa Kita was one of those lucky few. As an Ishiken, an apprentice of the void shugenja, she looked at the world around her with a view much different from common samurai. While most samurai will look at the lands around them as representations of the physical elements of earth, fire, water and air, she saw the pulse of spirit amongst all living things, the connection all things have to Void.

Her mind turned back to the reason why she was travelling and she grimaced. She never enjoyed the interactions of the Courts, but she performed her duty to her lord and the Emperor as well as she could. Being naturally soft-spoken, she quickly found out her shyness was an asset to avoid the blows of words sharper than the wakizachi resting on her left hip. Observation is a crucial component to understand most of the interaction of the courtiers, something she intimately understood, as observation is critical to understand the Void. She sighed lightly as she walked with her sworn body guard, her yojimbo, as she finally neared the town. She glanced with some worry at large watch towers that now surrounded the town. She had travelled here several times as a child and never remembered there being so many. Once the town came into view, Kita had to hold back a gasp of shock at the lack of samurai from her clan patrolling the village. She quietly wondered what happened as she walked toward the Inn of the Red Lion, where she would be staying as her lord chose the proper bride for his son, Isawa Robe. She knew it would be highly unlikely that she would be the one chosen, simply because she did not have anything to offer her lord's son to help the province. She prayed to the kami and the Fortunes that the right samurai would be chosen to help her home province. As she approached the inn, she could hear the tittering laughter of a group of women, most likely the representatives sent from the other clans. She paused a moment to gather her thoughts, reminding herself of her connection to the Void. Once she felt sufficiently centered, she opened the door.

All conversation amongst the finely dressed women ceased as she stepped into the inn. She walked up to the innkeeper, a seedy looking peasant.

"How may I be of assistance to you Isawa sama?" he said with a cunning leer marring his already disturbing countenance.

"I need a room for several days, you should have received noticed from Isawa Bijirantsu," she quietly said while observing the colors of the kimono of the women, noting to herself that all of the major clans as well as some of the minor clans were represented.

"Ah, I found it! Right this way sama," he wheezed while directing her to a room down the nearby hall. She directed her yojimbo to place their belongings in the room.

"May I enquire your name?" she asked, turning to the innkeeper.

"Ako sama. Call me if you require anything in your stay. "

As he bowed to her, she noticed his kimono sleeve move, revealing part of a large tattoo. She did not comment, mentally reminding herself to find a library and look up what she saw.

She entered her room, finding it surprisingly cozy compared to the first impression from the innkeeper. She set down her pack and washed her face, relishing the cool water against her travel-stained skin. She sat down on a bamboo mat and proceeded to begin to meditate to clear her mind after her journey. She was startled abruptly out of her trance by a familiar voice she had not heard in nearly a decade at her first and only time to the Imperial Winter Court. She smiled fondly at the memory as she stood and straightened her kimono. She checked over her kimono carefully, making sure her appearance was impeccable. Sadly, travel did not fare well for her kimono as she noticed one of the hems unraveling in the dust. She quickly changed into a better outer kimono she carried with her, smiling slightly as she took in her appearance. Her mother was right that the clan colors of red and gold suited her well. She blushed slightly at her vanity, knowing she only cared because a certain handsome samurai waited on the other side of her door in the main room of the inn.

She walked over to a group of samurai in heavy battle armor, curious to see why they felt the need to keep it on in her home province. The colors of their kimono showed two were of the Crab clan, the protectors of Rokugan from the evils of the Shadowlands in the south, and one familiar face from the Lion clan. His helmet tucked under his arm gleamed in the afternoon sun from the nearby window, the white fur-like mane of the helmet a stark contrast to the rich brown and gold of the nearby matching kimono. She glanced at his chest, noticing the Matsu family mon emblazoned proudly on his armor. She also looked at the family mons on the Crab clan samurais' kimono, noting they were of the Hida family. She timidly walked up to the samurai, bowing parallel to the floor from her waist.

"Konichi wa, Matsu sama, Hida samas," she said, making sure to use a respectful tone, as she tried to keep a blush from rising to her cheeks.

"Konichi wa Isawa san!" the Hida closest to her said. "I am Hida Daino, travelling with my friend Hida Fina. We are accompanying a Kuni from our clan in the hopes of her being a suitable match to Isawa Robe," he kindly explained as he bowed the same way she did a moment ago. The Matsu stood a moment looking over Kita. She felt her face start to grow warm under his close inspection.

"Konichi wa, Isawa san. Have we met before?" He also bowed to her like the other samurai, though his eyes lingered on hers a second longer than normal.

"Perhaps," she replied. "I am Isawa Kita." She felt the scrutiny of the other female samurai as they tried to hide that they were intently listening to their conversation. A smile started to grow across the Matsu's face.

"I am not sure if you remember me, Kita san. I am Matsu Oda. We met at Winter Court several years ago."

Her eyes lit up with recognition. "How could I forget? You were talking about how you were going to your gempukku ceremony in a few weeks. I see that went well," she gestured to his wakizachi, the sign of being a samurai, on his hip.

"Hai, that it did. I assume you are here for Isawa Robe?" A strange look crossed his eyes for a fraction of a second as he spoke. She artfully hid the confusion over the look from her face.

"Hai, that is correct. I am performing my duty as my lord commands."

"I see… perhaps we could talk more at another time?" His eyes locked with hers and seemed to be gazing at her very soul. Startled slightly, she started to respond as a group of samurai in black and white kimono entered the inn. All of the inhabitants of the inn gazed at these newcomers curiously as they ascended the stairs to the upper set of rooms. Kita searched her mind, wondering what clan those colors belonged to, but her mind drew a blank as white as the white of the kimono of the travelers.

Another samurai in a green and brown kimono approached the motley group of samurai with familiarity immediately after the unfamiliar samurai retired to the upper level.

"Konichi wa Matsu san, Hida sans. And might I enquire to your name Isawa san?" he said with a slight glint of mirth in his eyes as he glanced between each samurai.

"Hai, my name is Isawa Kita. May I enquire yours Kitsune sama?" she said as she politely bowed.

"I am Kitsune Kurenko. I see that you have met my friends. Perhaps you would like to join us for some sake?"

She delicately shook her head. "I prefer tea, domo arrigato." She noticed immediately after she said she preferred tea, Ako rushed over with a tea set, already hot. She viewed it with a bit of caution. After a moment pondering, she looked up at Ako. "Domo arrigato Ako." She sipped her tea slowly as the samurai around her proceeded to gradually empty several bottles of sake. Soon, drunken stories were exchanged across the small table long after the nosy courtiers left with a lack of useful information. After several hours of watching them get exceedingly intoxicated, she decided to retire to her room.

She passed the stairs that led to the upper chambers where she saw the samurai in black and white kimono retire earlier. To her shock, she saw a sticky red substance dripped at the bottom of the stairs. She followed the stream of the substance up the stairs to the body of one of the samurai in a now scarlet and black kimono, his neck sliced cleanly, showing his vocal cords. She quickly grabbed her scroll satchel and cast a spell to allow her to look at anything three hundred feet around her without moving her body, completely unseen to her enemies. She began to slowly look up the stairs, looking for the perpetrator. She saw a strange shadow that seemed to only exist in the faint candle light that lit the narrow hallway. Suddenly the shape turned and looked right toward where her spirit was viewing the scene. Two malevolent eyes stared at her from a gap between several layers of black fabric. A hand in gloves of the same fabric as black as night appeared in front of the face, shaking its forefinger back and forth in a scolding motion. The last thing she remembered before she was tugged roughly back to her body was the person running down the upstairs hallway to a doorway at the end.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my story. The plot belongs to a wonderful GM, J.C.D.. I owe this plot and my inspiration to him. Please leave me feedback in the reviews. I really use it to improve my writing.

Please Review!


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